The Devil You Know
by Mecha74
Summary: A sequel to Godzilla 1985 that doesn't include the Heisei films that came after. In this continuity Godzilla continued to be a plague upon not only Japan but the entire world. In this story Godzilla attacks London England.


A sequel to Godzilla 1985 that doesn't include the Heisei films that came after. In this continuity Godzilla continued to be a plague upon not only Japan but the entire world.

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

_You don't have to see the devil to know that he's real…you just have to bear witness to his handiwork._

The aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz, moving in from the North Sea towards the Rhine Estuary off the coast of England.

June 8th, 2000

The order to scramble had been given…

And for an elite squadron of F-18 pilots, the moment of truth had finally come and a time of reckoning was at hand.

Mark climbed into the cockpit of his jet which had been christened with the name Sinbad. His friend Jamison's fighter had been given the name Perseus while the squad leader Nathan's was Hercules. The rest of the squadron's jet fighters had names like Conan, Van Helsing, Jack the Giant killer and even one named Ash, they of course represented monster slayers of myth, legend and pop culture and they wouldn't have it any other way. Their code name was 'The Monster Smashers'. Mark thinks back to a few days ago when their squad first received notice of the monster's presence off the coast after a radioed sonar confirmation…right before the ship scanning it was blown to smithereens.

Indeed, for Mark it brought back nightmarish memories…

xxxxxxxxx

16 years ago

August 15th, 1984

Chillicothe, Ohio

In a decimated trailer park…

Out in the middle of nowhere…

A 9 year old boy sobs hysterically as he kneels upon the ground, his grip on sanity slowly slipping away from him.

He had only been gone for a few minutes.

He had walked about a mile down the road to a friend's house to play some video games.

He had just gotten in the front door of his friend's home when he heard…and felt the footsteps.

From where he was he could hear the screams.

He ran back home as quickly as he could.

He never saw what had gone through…but bore witness to the horrifying aftermath.

The trailer park had been trampled into the earth and the bodies of the injured and dead were strewn everywhere. Mark ran through the devastation screaming for his mother and father, when finally he found them…what was left of them anyway. In a massive footprint lie his mother's body, partially in and out of the massive footfall. From the torso down she had been crushed, her insides forced through the front of her like a toothpaste tube that had been squeezed too hard, nearby was his father…his head anyway.

A few moments ago the extent of Mark's aspirations in life were to play Pac man , eat Cheetos and watch Bugs Bunny. It's always interesting…how tragedy changes things. It changes your priorities and forces you to take a step back and ask yourself what is really important in life, especially when the things that you took for granted are suddenly ripped away from you.

It would take many years of therapy before Mark would fully recover and rejoin society but once he did he knew what he wanted more than anything….revenge.

xxxxxxxxx

April 17th, 1998

After 6 long years of training Mark was ready to join the 'Monster Smashers'. All that lie before him now was his meeting with the squadron Captain, Nathan Jones.

"So, you're the new kid huh?" The Captain inquired with a half smirk walking up to Mark as he stood at attention not budging in the least.

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Ah, so tell me boy…why are you here?"

"To serve my country and do this squadron prou-"

"You can stuff that garbage pup! Now tell me why you're really here and if you lie to me again you'll be dog-paddling home is that understood?" The Captain snapped cutting Mark off before he could finish.

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Now…why are you here?"

Mark seemed hesitant to answer at first, unsure of how the Captain would react but also knew that if he showed any sign of weakness he was done for.

"To fight it sir!"

"Fight what, boy?"

"Godzilla, sir!"

"Yes…that's it isn't boy? The real reason you're here. Godzilla has been a plague on humanity for nearly 50 years. Many good men and women lost in the battle against that Hell spawned beast. Allot of orphaned children, widowed husbands and wives, lifelong friends lost. Some can cope with the loss…some can't. Which are you?"

"I can cope, sir."

"Is that a fact? I understand you lost your family to Godzilla 14 years ago."

"Yes, sir."

"You feel bitter about it? Hmmm? You want revenge? Will you allow that to cloud your judgment, cloud your senses?"

"No, sir."

"Unless you can look me in the eye and swear to me before man, God and the damn devil himself that you can and will perform your duty to the best of your ability without letting personal feelings interfere then you might as well just march your happy *** off my flight deck right now! Is that clear?"

"Sir ,yes sir!"

"What?" Captain Jones yelled as Mark turned and looked him directly in the eye.

"Yes, sir!" Mark responded sternly with determination showing no sign of fear.

The eyes of the two men remained locked on one another for what seemed like forever when finally…

"Alright boy….you're in, welcome to the 'Monster Smashers' squadron."

xxxxxxxxx

The present…

Within a matter of minutes the 'Monster Smashers' reached London just in time to see a titanic form rise up from the depths shrieking and roaring, Godzilla… was finally here. He had entered the Thames River from the Rhine Estuary and had just stepped onto the docks of Canary Warf. He was practically on the doorstep of the heart of the city's metropolitan area, if he wasn't stopped he would lay waste to everything. A few moments later Godzilla finally made landfall eyeing the expansive and brightly lit city hungrily like a rushing tide ready to demolish a sand castle. The one saving grace of this terrible scenario was that the city itself had already been evacuated, otherwise it would surely be turned into a burning cemetery.

Mark was awash in awe, anxiety and memories no less. His entire life had been building toward this very moment. As he thought about it several things flashed through his mind. First spotting his parents bodies 16 years ago, being admitted to Fairchild Mental Institution and getting out 4 years later. The animal rights activist he beat senseless in regards to Godzilla, of course the activist saying that his parents deserved to die in the heat of the argument probably didn't help matters any. Graduating from college, joining the Air Force, completing flight school and of course, joining the 'Monster Smashers'. Mark had carried the burden of this vigil, the memories of his dead parents that is, them, and everyone else who died in that trailer park all those years ago. He had to, no else cared, the only time Godzilla made headlines was when he attacked a major city, no one ever seem to give any thought of how the monster got from point A to point B or whose lives he destroyed in the process. His hometown was so small it didn't even have a local newspaper, if it had there would've at least been some obituaries then or something else that gave some sign that someone else besides him actually gave a damn, but that sadly was not the case, so whether he liked it or not Mark became the keeper of the dead, the keeper of the memory of that day and all those who died upon it.

Yes, this is what it all came down to…

"Alright boys, we all know why we're here, it's time this son of a ***** paid for what he's done, let's show the world what exactly we're made of!" The Captain spoke over his COM link to his men as they assumed the proper approach vector and formation as they zeroed in on the kaiju king with their targeting computers.

Not giving him a chance to attack the entire squadron fired off two AGM-65 Mavericks, the 300 kilogram projectiles quickly closed in on their intended target and struck him head on as the beast was obscured in the explosive plumes of fire and smoke when the warheads detonated. They flew overhead and circled back around as more missiles were fired into the target, each one of them finding their mark.

Within his cockpit Mark watched the area where Godzilla had been closely.

"Is that it? Did we get him!" Jamison asked excitedly.

_"That's for my family you murdering *******." _Mark thought to himself.

"Stay frosty guys, we don't have a confirmed kill yet." The Captain told his wingmen over the COM as they circled the area, "I think I see something mov-"KABLAM!

Hercules was completely incinerated and then disintegrated in one shot as a sudden stream of blue merciless death shot forth from the billowing smoke and flames…Nathan never knew what hit him. As the beam moved several other pilots caught off guard suffered the same fate.

"What the ****!" Jamison blurted out.

"Holy ****!" Mark screamed.

Other pilots chimed in with their shocked swears and comments while others had been stricken silent by what they had just seen.

Down below the smoke finally cleared revealing that not only was Godzilla still alive but completely unharmed as well.

"My God it's still alive!" Jamison bellowed in disbelief over the COM.

Mark however was still in a state of shock over just bearing witness to Nathan's death. He snapped out of it when he spotted Godzilla's dorsal plates and jaws beginning to glow once more. The remaining jets veered off to dodge another blast of the kaiju's breath as they circled back around unloading their remaining Mavericks into Godzilla while simultaneously firing their 20 mm Vulcan Gatling guns. But the beast angrily plodded through the assault, the missiles and the Vulcan's 100 round per second armor piercing incendiaries proving to be little more than an annoyance.

"Die damn you! Die!" Mark exploded.

Godzilla fired and again taking out more planes while others dodged but Godzilla continued firing as he attempted to follow Jamison's craft with his breath. Mark used this distraction to his advantage as he dived in dropping a massive payload of MK 80 bombs right on top of the monster as the force of the tritonal explosives impact shockwaves were felt for miles. Staggered by this assault Godzilla stumbled and eventually lost his footing and fell as he crushed several structures and buildings under his ponderous weight.

Pressing the advantage Jamison followed suit dropping his bombs as well on the downed behemoth as massive gaping wounds could be seen in the monster's hide. The rest of the squadron did the same as they sent their payloads to compound the damage.

"Hell yeah! We've got him now!" Jamison howled.

"No look!" Mark stammered.

Down below the wounds in Godzilla's flesh sealed up almost instantly with Mark and Jamison looking on in horror all the while. Godzilla then rose back up with a thunderous roar, no trace of his former injuries other than the blood which managed to stain his skin before the lacerations on his body had fully closed.

"Impossible!" Mark screamed.

"What the Hell is that damned thing? Nothing living could've survived that!" Jamison exclaimed.

Once more Godzilla opened fire as more fighters went down in flames as it was suddenly becoming evident to the surviving pilots that they were not winning this battle.

In a last ditch effort to stop him Mark decided to try something completely insane as he flew dangerously close to Godzilla hoping to anger him and draw his fire as he flew low to the ground circling around him. It worked, for when the saurian juggernaut tried to follow him with his beam the blast struck and cut into the base of the One Canada Square Building as it began to sway and bend from the sudden loss of structural integrity to its foundation. Picking up on what Mark was trying to do, Jamison flew in dumping a couple more of his Mk 80 bombs on the top of the teetering skyscraper giving it the final push that it needed. Godzilla looked away from trying shoot down Mark only to see the massive 235 meter building come crashing down on top of him at the last second burying the radioactive mutation under tons of rubble.

"Yeah!" Both Mark and Jamison practically yelled out in unison.

"For you Nathan…that was for you." Mark mumbled quietly to himself.

"Let's drop the rest of our MK payloads and really bury this freak!" Jamison growled as the few craft that remained flew in toward the mangled mountain of what had been the tallest building in London.

That would prove to be a disastrous mistake...and also their last.

Suddenly from within the man made tomb of debris there was a massive surge of energy as Godzilla unleashed his nuclear pulse. The blast that emanated from his body obliterated the structure he was buried under as well as catching the fighter pilots completely off guard. The jets that were not obliterated instantly spiraled out of control and crashed, Jamison's craft was among them, he had no time to eject let alone scream as Perseus crashed strait into the side of the HSBC Tower and buried itself within. Mark at least had enough time to eject before Sinbad was incinerated and broke apart in midair.

Godzilla looked around for but a moment for the flying nuisances that were irritating him but a moment before, when he saw no sign of them he continued onward into the city. Nearby Mark drifted down slowly on his parachute, he luckily came down in a section of the city that was not burning but his ordeal was far from over. He looked up at the HSBC Tower and made a mad dash for it, there was a slim chance that Jamison was still alive and Mark had to be sure. After forging his way through the devastated area trying to find the safest yet quickest path possible he finally reached the base of the structure. Before going inside Mark stopped to check on Godzilla's position he was getting close, he would have to make this fast! Obviously the elevators were shut down so Mark ran up the several flights of steps as swift as his legs could carry him. He was almost there, Jamison's craft was just two floors up now on the 15th story. But just then the sound of more jet engines got Mark's attention as he rushed over to a shattered window. It was then that he heard the familiar sounds, the whistles of dropping bombs. Godzilla paused looking up as the sounds had gotten his attention as well. It was then that a series of incendiary explosions suddenly covered the kaiju's body.

"Napalm? Their using napalm on Godzilla? But that won't even scrat-" SSSSHHHHRRIIIIEEEEEKKKKKK!

Mark was abruptly cut off by the most agonizing wail of misery and suffering that he had ever heard a living creature emit in his life as the staggered Godzilla howled and screamed.

"What the Hell? What are they using out there?"

But just then a familiar chemical smell hit Mark's nostrils.

"Holy **** they're using plasma bombs!" Mark stammered as he began to recoil himself.

What Mark merely referred to as plasma bombs were actually Oxygen/Argon Plasma shells, essentially the most powerful and corrosive compound currently known to human science, it made napalm seem like just a bad skin rash by comparison. So powerful was it in fact that simply breathing the fumes could be harmful as Mark threw on his gas mask, he wasn't going to take any chances with that stuff. Mark made a beeline back for the stairs to reach Jamison only to discover that they had been demolished by the plane's crash. Mark had a doozy of a jump to clear in front of him.

Meanwhile outside Godzilla's regenerative cells fought against the plasma attempting to devour his flesh as he had been forced to one knee, this was an attack unlike anything he had ever experienced before. While distracted by this Godzilla didn't take notice of the Convair B-36 Peacemaker that was flying into position overhead…

With a hearty yell Mark lunged across the gap as he grabbed desperately for the other side, he found the grip he needed in a most painful fashion as his right hand came down on and clean through an exposed support beam dow rod as he yelped painfully. Mark slowly but surely pulled himself up as he wrenched his hand free of the rod with a wince as he made his way up the last flight of steps that separated him from Jamison simultaneously wrapping his bleeding hand in a bandana he had in one of his pockets.

It was then that the stench of burning flesh hit him.

Mark clasped his hands over his mouth in an attempt to prevent the vomit and bile that threatened to force itself through his fingers from gushing forth as he looked upon his friend and wingmate. Jamison had been decapitated on impact as the top of his jet had been torn clear and took his head with it when it crashed into the side of the building, the rest of his body had been burned almost beyond recognition as it sat in the still burning cockpit. Mark fell to his knees as the nightmarish flashback of finding his parents' bodies slammed into him like a punch to the gut.

"No...not again." Mark mumbled as he tilted his head down bringing the palms of his clinched fists up to his forehead.

Back outside another payload of plasma bombs came down upon Godzilla who had just recovered from the previous assault as he cried out once again in a tortured rage, this drop however was merely priming the behemoth for what was yet to come as up above, the Convair B-36 Peacemaker opened its bomb bay doors…

It was then that Mark a heard another whistle.

But this one was different.

Something else was coming down.

Something…big.

With the force of an earthquake a near 20 metric ton T-12 demolition bomb came down right on Godzilla's location leveling everything surrounding it in the process. Mark felt the HSBC Tower sway as he braced himself for what he was convinced was his death as he was thrown to one side of the structure.

After that everything went black.

The next thing that Mark remembers is his eyes slowly fluttering open. Could it be? Was he still alive?

As he finally regained consciousness he realized that he was in the ICU of London's Wellington Hospital.

"Finally awake I see, you gave us quite a scare there for a moment." A nurse suddenly said nearby causing him to flinch.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you. Are you in any pain?" She asked.

A simple nod of no was all he could muster the strength to do.

"That's good, we have you on a steady morphine drip, if you begin to feel uncomfortable for any reason just use this buzzer, okay? I'll let the doctor know that you've regained consciousness." She told him as she then left the room.

The doctor arrived in short order as Mark struggled to form the words for much needed questions.

"G-God-Godzilla…"

"Godzilla? Oh, you've been here for over three weeks . When Godzilla made his way through London this hospital was one of the few left unscathed. He eventually traveled out of the city and up the coast where he fed upon the Bradwell nuclear power plant before heading back out to sea."

"Th-then..h-he wasn't st-stopped?"

"No…no Mr. Munafo…I'm afraid not." The doctor answered him forlornly as a feeling of regret and defeat washed over him.

"A-am I…going t-to make it?"

"Yes , you do have some broken bones and minor burns but with proper care and rehabilitation you should be just fine. Now please Mr. Munafo, no more questions, you need your rest." The doctor concluded as the badly injured pilot tried to do just that.

Mark pondered his current situation. He could've been killed, he probably should've been. But this was wrong! It wasn't supposed to end like this! After all the pain and misery, the sacrifices, the training, the preparation. They were supposed to avenge those slain at Godzilla's hands and kill the monster once and for all. He remembers visiting his parents' graves and swearing a blood oath that he would destroy the creature! But that's not what happened. Only now does Mark understand that this leviathan named Godzilla was truly fitting of its namesake. An entity of raw unstoppable power that lived and breathed in complete defiance of man, nature and God. A creature of unbridled fury that took no prisoners and suffered no fools.

Mark would indeed make a full physical recovery aside from some permanent scarring, but the scars that Mark would carry with him for the rest of his life would run so much deeper than merely what he wore upon his skin. The hellish memory of what he and his allies had faced would stay with him for the rest of his life and haunt his nightmares for all time.

Indeed, Mark had learned firsthand why Godzilla was called…the king of all monsters.

END


End file.
